I blogged yesterday (here), that the Tax Court denied same-sex couples the married filing jointly status on their 2004 and 2005 tax returns. At the end of the post, I suggested that Mr. Merrill is probably filing MFJ with his partner Mr. Boyle now, since they were legally married in 2008.
I would like to make clear, however, that the IRS rejects same-sex marriages recognized by State law in Publication 17. Though in its opinion the Tax Court cited case law that marital status is determined by the taxpayer's State of domicile, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) nullifies those cases for same-sex couples. DOMA, passed in 1996, states:
In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling,
regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and
agencies of the United States, the word “marriage” means only a legal
union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word
“spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband
or a wife.
This phrase was codified in Title 1, Section 7 of the United States Code.
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